Socio-economic considerations for regional farm forestry development

Farm forestry in Australia is increasingly promoted as a national strategy likely to deliver important benefits in terms of expanding opportunities for commercial wood production, assisting the move to more sustainable agriculture and enhancing regional development. While the benefits from farm forestry are often cited as social, economic and environmental in nature, there is little detailed analysis of the extent of the socio-economic benefits that will flow to regional communities. The authors argue that despite increasing interest by landholders, industry and government, it cannot be assumed that the benefits of farm forestry will necessarily be delivered to all stakeholders. As such, farm forestry development needs to be underpinned by adequate analysis of how regional stakeholders, particularly small-scale growers, are to benefit from farm forestry. In this paper the authors draw upon Australian and international experiences to present what they view as some of the key socio-economic considerations for regional farm forestry